Making Garlic Roasted Tomatoes is a great way to preserve fresh tomatoes. They freeze well and are great to use in pasta sauce, soup, and salsa.
Tomato season is always a bit of an awkward time for me. I always HATED tomatoes as a kid. I wasn't a super picky eater, but there were two main things I didn't like. Beans and tomatoes.
As an adult, I have come to accept both of these foods and eat them willingly. I even enjoy them quite a bit now. But I still have a bit of a hard time with raw tomatoes.
I have never been the person who could just cut up a tomato and eat it. I mean, I love Bacon and Tomato Sandwiches, and I definitely eat a lot of them when tomatoes are in season, but often I struggle to use them up before they go bad.
Since there are only so many tomato-based recipes a person can make in the period of time that a tomato is good for, I have turned to preservation methods. I have found that my favorite way to enjoy my garden tomatoes far into the winter is to make Garlic Roasted Tomatoes and freeze them.
My tomato plants have produced many pounds of tomatoes already, plus the ones that keep coming with my CSA. So I have already made 3 or 4 batches of these Roasted Tomatoes this year.
So far, I have just been putting them into quart-sized freezer bags and saving them for later, but they're also great for making salsa and can be used to replace canned tomatoes in soups or pasta sauces.
How do you like to use your fresh garden tomatoes?
How to make Garlic Roasted Tomatoes
You'll start by prepping the tomatoes and garlic. Cut the tomatoes ½" thick. Small tomatoes can just be halved, and very small tomatoes like cherry or grape tomatoes can be left whole. Slice the garlic.
Spread half of the olive oil into a 9x13" glass or ceramic baking dish, followed by half of the sliced garlic. Spread the tomatoes evenly over the dish. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and the remaining garlic and olive oil.
Roast the tomatoes for at least 1 hour. They're done when the start looking wrinkly and shriveled, and they have just started to brown. You're not looking for them to dry out completely.
Scoop the tomatoes from the oil and allow them to drain slightly. The tomatoes can be stored in small freezer bags and frozen for later use, or used right away in soups, sauces, or salsas.
You can use the oil that's left in the pan for tomato-based recipes like soups or sauces (it will have lots of great tomato flavor in it).
Garlic Roasted Tomatoes Ingredients
- Olive oil - or you can use half olive oil and half of a neutral-flavored cooking oil like canola, grapeseed, or avocado oil.
- Tomatoes - the tomatoes can be all the same type/color, or different types. Just be sure to cut them all into similar-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
- Garlic
- Salt - this is a great place to use MSG-salt to enhance the tomatoes' savory flavor
Want more tomato recipes?
Garlic Roasted Tomatoes Nutrition Notes:
The nutrition information for these roasted tomatoes depends on how much of the oil is drained from the tomatoes after cooking. The nutrition information in the recipe below accounts for half of the oil being drained and discarded.
Garlic Roasted Tomatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325°F. Spread 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a 9x11" baking dish or similar-sized casserole dish (I prefer using glass here, because the acid in the tomatoes can cause a metal baking pan to rust). Sprinkle half of the sliced garlic evenly over the oiled dish.
- Spread the sliced (or halved) tomatoes evenly in the dish (you can overlap them if you need to). Sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt evenly over the tomatoes, followed by the remaining garlic and the remaining 4 Tablespoons of oil.
- Roast the tomatoes for at least 1 hour, until the skins have become wrinkled and are just beginning to brown. Scoop the tomatoes from the oil, and allow them to drain slightly. You can use them immediately in pasta sauce or salsa, refrigerate for up to 2 days, or place them in an airtight container or zipper bag to freeze. You can use the leftover oil in tomato-based recipes like soups or pasta sauce.
Nutrition
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